The road to recovery has been long and difficult

I have worked with the NewsMail since January 2012.
I report in the Family Life section of the paper, which I love as I have two school aged kids.
I grew up in Byron Bay before moving to Hervey Bay where I lived for 10 years, after that my family and I travelled around Australia then we finally settled in Bundaberg in 2011.
I enjoy meeting new people and hearing about all walks of life.

IT HAS been a long and difficult path to recovery for the Bundaberg region since the flood events of 2010/11.

As a council the priority and major focus has always been the preservation of human life and over the intervening years we have worked hard to ensure appropriate warning systems are in place and evacuation routes available to residents.

The council has faced a financial burden since 2010/11, a burden that grew in 2013.

More than $20 million earmarked by council for other community projects was injected into flood recovery work.

However, hard work, planning and the resolve of council to promote economic growth will see more than $170 million in projects undertaken this year. You only need to drive along Johanna Blvd to see the expansion of commercial business in that area to conclude that our recovery from the flood events is now well established.

Local businesses, developers and investors need to be congratulated for their resolve in clearly demonstrating their confidence in this region.

A great thing that has grown from events like 2010/11 and 2013 has been the strength of a community bond. People were prepared to help each other, to rely on each other and I think that is one of the positives to have emerged.

Bundaberg Basketball

BUNDABERG Basketball has bounced back since the 2011 floods and although there is still work to be done the courts are back in shape.

Association secretary Kerri Savidge said the damage to the court was significant and a lot of work went into the rebuild before the devastation of the floods struck again in 2013.

"Since 2011 we have had some ups and downs and since then we have worked really hard to get back on our feet," Ms Savidge said.

"And of course we had another flood we learned a lot and bounced back up and our membership has increased.

The place is looking good and we still have a lot of work to do but we will just keep going."

"We find there is a lack of places for boats to tie up to and this is hurting."

Ms Price said the business was looking to the future and not the devastation of the past.

"We have tried to work a bit smarter now and we look forward to a better future for everyone," she said.

Bundaberg Slipways owner Lorraine Price is pleased with the clean-up progress so far but realises that there is still a long way to go before business can return to normal. Photo: Max Fleet/NewsMailMax Fleet

Coopers Home Hardware

COOPERS Home Hardware manager Jason Medcalf said the 2010-11 flood came out of the blue and like many others in the town they didn't know what to expect.

"It was the first time in 50 to 60 years that Bundaberg had flooded," he said.

"By the time we recovered from that we were smashed again by the 2013 floods.

"We had built the business again to get through another similar flood but unfortunately the 2013 flood wasn't similar."

Mr Medcalf said the hardware store was like most other businesses in the area and had made a pretty good recovery.